About This Book
Fast One is a hardboiled crime novel by Paul Cain (pen name of George Carrol Sims, 1902–1966), first published in 1933 and regarded as one of the toughest, most violent novels of the noir era. Set in Depression-era Los Angeles, it follows Gerry Kells, a ruthless gambler and fixer, through a nonstop succession of beatings, shootings, double-crosses, and booze-fueled confrontations. Raymond Chandler called it the high point of the ultra-hard-boiled school of fiction. Cain published almost nothing else, making Fast One one of the great one-book careers in American crime writing.
Excerpt
Kells walked north on Spring. At Fifth he turned west, walked two blocks, turned into a small cigar store. He nodded to the squat bald man behind the counter and went on through the ground-glass-paneled door into a large and bare back room.— Opening of Fast One
Publication Details
| First Published | 1933 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | No Exit Press |
| Pages | 296 |
| ISBN | 9781842431214 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Pulp Fiction, Mystery |
| Open Library | View editions |
| Collection | Munsey's Classic & Rare Books |
